Music holder



April 8, 1969 c. T. URBAN ET AL 3,437,002

. MUSIC HOLDER Filed July 25, 1966 Sheet of 2 cwr 7 1/45; J06? jefmzz x v c. T. URBAN ET AL 3,437,002

April 8, 1969 MUS I C HOLDER Sheet Filed July 25, 1966 Caz/e: 7 (/0504 Jaa. Qe/az/a /Y A r /awrey United States Patent Chicago,

Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A music holder for a portable musical instrument having a non-circular, metallic stem and an organic plastic sheet carrier. The sheet carrier having a bore hole into which the stem is fitted and frictionally held.

This invention relates to an improved music holder adapted for direct attachment to portable music instruments which are to be played during marching or other movements by musicians.

The prior art is abundant in music holder constructions which have been devised for use by a musician who is playing his instrument while in motion. In the usual instance, such music holders comprise a complicated lyre clamp which grips a folio or other form of sheet music carrier. The resulting combination of parts is cumbersome to carry and also difficult to store when not affixed to the instrument. The lyre clamp, for example, generally incorporates protruding and fairly sharp cornered parts which are capable of doing considerable damage if carried in a musicians pocket or in an instrument case. Moreover, storage in an instrument case usually requires a special compartment adapted to house the lyre clamp so as not to damage adjacent items. Due to the complexity of the lyre clamp, these prior art music holders are also relatively diflicult to manufacture and costly to purchase.

Accordingly, a principal object of this invention is a new and improved music holder for portable instruments which are to be played by a musician in motion, and which may be readily manufactured for sale at an economical price.

A second principal object of this invention is to provide a music holder which may be readily assembled on portable instruments which are to be played by musicians in motion; and additionally, which may be readily disassembled and safely stored in a musicians pocket or music case.

In order that all of the structural features for attaining the foregoing objects of this invention may be readily understood, the following description makes detailed reference to the annexed drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a view showing the music holder of this invention attached by way of example to a clarinet;

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of the music holder of FIG. 1 showing the two principal elements comprising the music holder, namely, the sheet carrier and the supporting stem;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2 showing in cross sectional detail the construction of the supporting stem receiver;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view partially broken away, of the music holder showing in detail the reinforcing rib construction of the stem receiver; and

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of a portion of the sheet carrier showing in detail the rib reinforcing structure of the stem receiver.

Referring now to the drawings, the music holder of this invention comprises two principal components, namely, a sheet carrier and a support stem 11. By way of example, an instrument clamp 12 is affixed to the lower end of support stem 11 for coupling to a clarinet as is shown in FIG. 1. It is apparent, however, that support 11 and clamp 12 must be modified as required so that the music holder may be adapted to attach to different portable instruments. In some cases, such as use with a trumpet, instrument clamp 12 is eliminated and the square shank of support stem 11 is received directly by coupling means mounted on the trumpet (not shown).

In a preferred embodiment support stem 11 is fabricated from a brass rod 13 having an attachment shank 14 at its upper end adapted for engagement by a friction lock with sheet carrier 10 as hereinafter described in detail.

Sheet carrier 10 is fabricated with a generally planar back 15 having a projecting rim 16 integrally formed at both edges and the bottom of back 15.

Reinforced ring eyelets 17 are formed adjacent the upper edge of back 15. Ring eyelets 17 carry a pair of rings 18 which couple a plurality of conventional transparent music envelopes 19 to sheet carrier 10.

The side portions of rim 16 are tapered so as to narrow adjacent the top edge of back 15. With this construction, envelopes 19, and the contained music, are inclined slightly as is shown in FIG. 3 so that the music may be easily read by the musician.

Stern receiver 20 is also integrally formed with the other portions of sheet carrier 10. This stem receiver includes a front face 21 which is inclined (FIG. 3) so that this face preferably lies in the same plane as the leading edges of the tapered side portions of rim 16. This particular disposition of face 21 prevents envelopes 19 and the contained music from being depressed within the concavity formed by the side portions of rim 16 and back 15, and accordingly, envelopes 19 provide a fiat disposition of their contained music which may be easily read by the musician.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, stem receiver 20 includes a recetangular housing 22 formed with a rectangular bore 23 which is adapted to receive attachment shank 14 of stem support 11. Rectangular housing 22 is integrally formed and attached to back 15 by means of a plurality of reinforcing ribs 27. Reinforcing ribs 27 extend from the outer sides of rectangular housing 22 to the outer sides of stem receiver 20 so as to provide rigid support for the stem receiver 20 relative to the remaining structure for sheet carrier 10.

In a preferred embodiment sheet carrier 10 is fabricated from an organic plastic such as linear polyethylene. This plastic construction for sheet carrier 10 enables the music holder of this invention to be relatively lightweight and at the same time the reinforcing .rib construction for the stem receiver enables the attachment shank 14 to be rigidly and firmly engaged within the bore 23.

Support stem 11 and sheet carrier 10 are coupled one to the other by means of the tight friction lock established between the mating surfaces of attachment shank 14 and the adjacent contacting surfaces of bore 23. In a preferred construction, rod 13 and its attachment shank portion 14 are fabricated of a uniform square cross section .149 inch wide and the bore 23 is fabricated of the uniform square cross section of .148 inch wide. This undersizing of bore 23 nonetheless permits attachment shank 14 to be easily and manually inserted within bore 23 and also disengaged. At the same time, however, the friction lock is secure so that sheet carrier 10 is supported in a fixed nonshifting manner relative the portable musical instrument.

The music holder may be readily disassembled by manually removing sheet carrier 10 from support stem 11. In View of the fact that sheet carreir 10 has no sharp corners and that attachment shank 14 does not couple to the usual lyre clamp, the music holder of this invention may be readily carried in the musicians pocket, or alternatively in the musical instrument case, without special consideration being given the safety of the musicians clothing or other items stored in the case.

As an optional feature, stem receiver 20 is fabricated with a score pencil holder 25 which consists of a tight fitting groove adapted to carry a pencil 26 as is shown in FIG. 2. Pencil 26 may be stored and carried during use of the music holder inasmuch as the pencil does not interfere in any way with the proper placement for easy reading of the music contained within envelopes 19.

It is to be understood that modifications can be made in the foregoing preferred embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A music holder adapted for attachment to a portable musical instrument comprising a support stem having an attachment shank portion, a music sheet carrier having a generally planar back and an integral stem receiver with the receiver being formed with a mating bore hole to receive and engage the stern shank portion with a friction fit only, and in which the stem is a metallic element having a non-circular, shank cross-section and the sheet carrier is an organic plastic element.

2. The music holder of claim 1 in which the stem receiver includes an elongated shank housing formed with the mating bore, and a plurality of reinforcing ribs carrying and supporting the shack housing on the back.

3. The music holder of claim 2 in which the music sheet carrier includes an integrally formed rim on the bottom and both sides of the back.

4. The music sheet holder of claim 3 in which the side rim portions are tapered to narrow toward the top of the carrier back, and the stem receiver includes a front face inclined to be positioned in the same plane as the protruding and leading edges of the rim.

5. A music holder adapted for attachment to a portable musical instrument comprising a metallic support stem having an attachment shank portion formed with a uniform and square cross-section, an organic plastic music sheet carrier having a generally flat back and an integrally formed stem receiver projecting from one side of said back, with the receiver formed with a shank housing defining a bore hole of a uniform, square cross-section to receive and engage the stem shank portion with a friction lock only.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 571,920 11/1896 G-rodzik et a1. 84453 995,411 6/1911 Morrill 84--453 2,901,860 9/1959 Crawford 84-453 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

J. F. GONZALES, Primary Examiner. 

